Memopal Online Backup Utility (beta)

European companies often leapfrog their North American counterparts regarding the addition of Linux compatibility. A fine example is Italy's Memopal, which now offers a Linux version of its online backup utility. Memopal offers automatic and continuous backup to a remote server via a secure Internet connection, a service that has been lacking in the Linux space. The company claims that its Memopal Global File System archiving technology provides a distributed file system that supports up to 100 million terabytes of storage, transparent read-write compression, hot-add scalability and more. Currently in beta, Memopal for Linux supports Ubuntu 8.04 and Debian Etch.

gNewSense 2.1

The team at gNewSense has released a new Version 2.1 of its completely free distribution of Linux. Backed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), the distro is based on Ubuntu, only it does not contain any non-free software. gNewSense has a rich GUI, a full office suite, Web browsers, email, instant messenging, the full GNU developer toolchain, GNU Emacs and a variety of compilers, debuggers, etc. New features in Version 2.1 include clearing of non-free blobs from Linux-ubuntu-modules, addition of Usplash, improved theme and artwork and more.

Super Talent Pico D USB Drive

The folks at Super Talent have added a new model, the Pico D, to its line of ultra-diminutive USB flash drives. The Pico series of USB drives, measuring in at 1.4 inches, is an inch shorter than most USB drives on the market today, says the company. Other features include a pivoting lid that won't get lost, shock and water resistance and transfer speeds up to 30MB/sec. Not to mention that the little guy is kinda cute, too.

SEH's PS56 WLAN Print Server

SEH says that its new PS56 WLAN Print Server interface card will make your network printing more secure. Utilizing the highly secure WPA and WPA2 encryption standards, the IPv6-enabled PS56 will connect all HP output devices with an EIO port to a wireless 802.11g network. Because the WPA and WPA2 standards have not yet been cracked, offers SEH, they are regarded as the safest protection for WLANs. To further enhance security, the PS56 also includes TLS/SSL encryption and several IEEE 802.1X authentication methods. The interface card simply slides into the respective slot on the printer unit and is easily configurable and manageable.

The editoral team of Gilad Ben-Yossef, Jonathan Masters and Karim Yaghmour has released the second edition of its "in-depth, hard-core guide to putting together embedded systems based on Linux". Titled Building Embedded Linux Systems: Concepts, Techniques, Tricks, and Traps, the book explores the configuration, setup, and use of more than 40 different open source and free software packages in common use for building embedded Linux systems. The book also looks at the strengths and weaknesses of using Linux in an embedded system, covers licensing issues, and outlines real-time options for Linux. Other topics include building one's own GNU development toolchain, target-specific kernels, the use of solid-state storage devices, bootloaders, debugging and more.